Genesis, Hyundai Motor Group’s luxury brand, is putting its US manufacturing footprint temporarily on hold to make room for its parent company, Business Insider confirmed on Thursday.
Ted Mengiste, chief operating officer of Genesis Motor North America, said in an interview that Hyundai is moving production of the GV70 SUV — the brand’s best-selling model in the US — out of its Montgomery, Alabama, plant and back to Ulsan, South Korea.
The move would effectively consolidate Genesis vehicle production in Korea, where Hyundai has its largest manufacturing facility. The Ulsan complex already produces much of the Genesis lineup.
Mengiste attributed the decision to Hyundai’s growth in the US. Hyundai reported a record 450,568 vehicles sold in the US in the first half of 2026, up 3% from a year earlier, after setting a full-year sales record in 2025.
“Hyundai’s growing very rapidly in the United States, and our plant in Alabama produced Hyundais and Genesis,” he said. “But capacity became so tight for Hyundai that we took our GV70 production back to Ulsan to allow for incremental production capacity for Hyundai.”
The Seoul Economic Daily first reported the move in July, citing industry sources.
The move comes months after Genesis said expanding US production would be part of its next phase of North American growth. In April, the company announced plans for 22 new or “significantly enhanced” models through 2030 and tied the strategy to Hyundai’s multi-billion-dollar investment in the US.
Genesis said that its “growing US production footprint” and increased parts localization would help support sustained growth.
“These new models, advanced powertrains, and expanded production initiatives build on Hyundai Motor Group’s previously announced $26 billion investment in the United States,” the company said in a statement at the time.
Hyundai Motor Group has had a decadeslong investment in the American South and operates three vehicle assembly plants in Alabama and Georgia, with a total annual production capacity of roughly 1 million cars. The company plans to increase the figure to 1.2 million as it expands its new Georgia Metaplant.
Genesis represented a small slice of Hyundai’s Alabama output. The Business Alabama Magazine reported in March that the plant produced under 23,000 GV70 vehicles. The plant has a total capacity to build 400,000 vehicles annually.
Still, the GV70 is a crucial part of Genesis’ US business. The company sold 33,876 GV70s in 2025, helping Genesis set a sales record of more than 82,000 vehicles — a 10% year-over-year increase.
Hyundai Motor Company CEO José Muñoz said at a media roundtable on Thursday that the company’s basic manufacturing principle is to “produce where you sell.” However, he added that lower-volume vehicles can’t always justify multiple production locations.
Genesis’ new flagship model, the all-electric GV90 SUV, which was unveiled on Wednesday, will be produced in Korea. Munoz said the model won’t be produced in America “in the short term,” in part because the expected volume makes centralized production more practical.
Genesis expects the GV90 to reach US dealers in the first quarter of 2027.
Mengiste said during the interview that moving GV70 production back to Korea did not mark the end of Genesis’ US manufacturing footprint.
“We had to leave some room, but we’re coming back. And we’ve made that declaration,” he said.
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